Research Around the World

For this week’s blog assignment, I reviewed http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

Concerns in the field of early childhood education in Australia don’t differ all that much from concerns in the United States. Professional development, how to better meet the needs of the families they serve, physical and mental health support and services, nutrition, and ethical practices are just a few topics covered on this website.

While I was not surprised to see these similarities between the two countries, there was another similarity that did take me by surprise: the need for cultural awareness and sensitivity. I was not aware that Australia had cultural tensions similar to those experiences in the U.S. There is a great importance placed on inclusive practices, valuing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. The movement to bring the cultures together is called Reconciliation.

It is interesting to see what other countries consider to be important, and where they are headed in the field of early childhood education, and how their concerns compare to those in the United States.

Benefits of research

    
For this week's assignment, I have chosen option two: selecting a topic research that I believe would greatly and positively impact the well-being of children and their families. For me, this topic would be the impact of budget cuts on programs which benefit young learners and their families.

Teachers from every state in the United States have seen the negative impact of a lack of funds for early childhood education (Boadi, 2013). There is plenty of research which shows just how important early childhood education is. However, it seems as though education is in a constant state of panic, unsure from year to year if funding will be available, and if programs will continue of be closed.

I would hope that this research would finally make an impression on politicians and policy makers. I know that research currently exists to illustrate this point, but so far, those in control of the money don’t seem to be paying attention. Despite the fact that they KNOW that funding quality preschool programs for all children is one of the best ways to invest in the future of our country, they continue to slash funds, denying services to thousands and thousands of children each and every year. My goal would be to find a way to make them accept this fact and act on it, not merely make campaign promises.

 

 Resources:

Boadi, K. (2013). Sequestering nation: cutting off access to pre-k education and child care.  Center For American Progress. Retrieved from: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/news/2013/07/01/68644/cutting-off-access-to-pre-k-education-and-child-care/

Personal Research Journey

My new class is Building Research Competency. Disclaimer: research is NOT my strong suit. I get impatient with details and passionate about my topics and don't stay objective.
Anyway, I am supposed to pick a subject to research and explain why.
I would like to research exactly defines a quality early childhood program. In the last few years, there has been a lot of focus on the need for good early childhood centers, and much debate over what constitutes a high quality center: staff education, type of curriculum.....but no one can seem to agree. I am interested in this subject because it is a very real concern for teachers and program directors. With so many overseeing agencies that have different and sometimes opposite requirements, the field of early childhood education has become difficult.
Despite my interest in this topic, I am not sure how to approach it so that it fits the guidelines of what we are supposed to be doing, I would appreciate any suggestions.....

Final blog for EDUC 6162

Well, since I never did hear back from my international requests, I will have to rely on the posts of others and webpages I have explored.

By taking a look at ECE around the world, I discovered that:
     1. Sadly, funding for ECE is a major issue for many countries around the world.
     2. The importance of ECE is recognized in most nations worldwide.
     3. ECE educators worldwide are feeling some of the frustrations experienced here in the USA.

One goal for this field would be for educators to take advantage of the ease of communication. Today, you can talk to just about anyone, anywhere. Teachers should be utilizing this to work together for the betterment of education worldwide.

I wish my classmates well on the next leg of their journey.....

International Contacts--Part 3

 

            Since I have yet to receive any type of a response from any of the international contacts I reached out to, I have once again opted to complete the optional assignment. This week, it is to explore the following website and share my insights:

            http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/

            The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization have a mission similar to many of the organizations I have researched lately: providing young children the tools and assistance they need to be healthy, strong, and well-educated.

            Unlike many of the webpages I have explored, however, was the lack of appeals for funding. There were no “click here to become a member” ads, no money-making conferences: nothing but actual information.

            The next thing I noticed was that this website is not pushing their own agenda on nations world-wide. They acknowledge that, while we know early childhood services are vital, they also acknowledge that there is no one accepted answer to the question “What is high quality?”

            The last thing that impressed me was the fact that this organization understands the importance of the fact that there is only one planet, and we all have to share it. The betterment of life for all mankind is more important than nations.

            I must say, that I have become more than a bit discouraged over the last few weeks. My experiences have led me to distrust educational organizations rather than rely on them. This website was a refreshing change from my experiences of late.

Exploring the Head Start website...again

For this week, I am supposed to further explore the Head Start website, although I really don’t see the point. The information is pretty basic, and doesn’t really change all that much from week to week. The biggest items are the upcoming 50^th anniversary, requests for money, and celebrating those organizations which give them money. In fact, of the six main headings, four of them deal mainly in the financial end. Yes, I include conferences under financial, because they are quite costly and make money for Head Start. This is not to say that I don’t believe in the Head Start Program, it’s just reporting on what I am actually reading.

Part of the assignment was to find new information which adds to my understanding of equity and excellence in early childhood education, as well as new trends or issues. Again, the information doesn’t really change all that much, so there aren’t any new revelations. They do have links to several studies, but the results are all pretty much what we already know: early childhood education is vital to children’s development, high quality programs give children the best chance to succeed, and so on.

Sorry, but I really just can’t find anything new or Earth-shattering to report upon.

Getting to Know Internation Contacts Pt 2

 

As I have not heard from anyone regarding my requests for international contacts, I opted to explore the website http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities/global_initiative/. The Global Children’s Initiative was born out of a realization that we have an obligation to see that all children worldwide are healthy: physically, mentally, and developmentally.

The first thing that stuck me while reading the website is that they base their work on what they learned while working in the United States. I find this funny, as much of what I have read lately says that the United States is trying to catch up to the rest of the world. The recent battles over the Affordable Health Care Act are proof that the health system in the U.S. is clearly not ideal, and the push for standardized testing is an attempt to improve education to be more like other countries.

The next thing which struck me was the fact that this Global Children’s Initiative is using the science of early childhood development to create early childhood programs worldwide. We don’t even do that in the United States! We IGNORE the science, and instead focus on the methods with quickly reportable assessments.

Un Buen Comienzo (A Good Start) is another program—this time in Chile—that resembles the Head Start Program here in the United States. They focus on educating not only the children, but the families as well. This is great—except that my recent research into Head Start shows that they are so severely underfunded, that they hit up the very people they serve and the people who work for them to raise funds!

While I know that the need for early childhood education and healthy development are an important need worldwide, I find it ironic that an American University is working on improving other countries, when our own country is so desperately in need! I am certainly not saying that we should ignore the plights of other countries. What I am saying is that maybe we should spend some of those resources fixing what is wrong here before we start telling other countries how they should be doing things.